Was It Worth It?
by Ramzes
Summary: Once we're out of here, she whispered, I'm going to kill Black! No, Peters, James said, I hope you will give this pleasure to me. A new howl made them both shiver.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own Angela Peters and her alone. Anything else belongs to the one and only J. K. Rowling**

_Thank you, saiyanwizardgurl, for betaing this for me – again._

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W_here are you, where are you_? Angela felt cold, despite being inside the castle of Hogwarts, dressed in a warm robe_. You are always running around and causing as much havoc as possible, but when I need you, you're nowhere to be seen_. She shivered and tried to convince herself that it was because of the November climate, but she knew it was not. She had Severus Snape of Slytherin to thank for the cold shivers going down her spine. Talking about the possibility of the Marauders being expelled was something he always did, but why had he looked so confident _now_? _The day of the full moon. Has he suspected something? No, that's impossible._

"Please," she told the fat woman in a pink dress, "please, let me in. Just for a minute."

"Not without the password, my dear," the Fat Lady answered. "You know I can't let you enter without a password."

"You're right, I don't know it, but you've let me in many times – "

"Yes, when Remus Lupin was accompanying you. _He_ knew the password." The Fat Lady sounded irritated.

Angela looked at her Muggle watch and realized that there were only fifteen minutes left until moonrise. _Maybe they are already on their way to the Shack. I should go there too._ She decided to wait for a few more minutes, just in case they were still in their dormitory_. Please, come out. Black, Potter, Pettigrew – someone!_

"Angela? What are you doing in front of Gryffindor Tower?"

She turned around to look at the obviously surprised Lily Evans. "Hello, Lily. Look, can you help me?"

Lily seemed even more surprised. The girls had talked a few times during the classes they had together, but they knew, in fact, nothing about each other. "Sure."

"Could you go and check on Potter, Black, and Pettigrew for me? And if you find them, tell them I have to talk to them."

Lily looked intrigued. "Really? I thought you disliked them. I mean, I know that you and Remus get along fine, but Potter and Black – "

"Please, Lily, it's urgent." Angela knew that she had sounded rude, but she really felt like it was urgent. "Find them."

"Peter left today. I think he had to go home. Family problems – never mind that." Lily's voice was slightly offended. "Come in, if it's that urgent." She turned to the Fat Lady and told her the password that Angela did not quite hear.

Once she found herself the Gryffindor Tower, she looked helplessly at Lily. She had not realized until now that she had no idea where the boys' dormitories were. When she came here with Remus, they always stayed in the common room.

Lily silently waved at the stairs and Angela nodded with gratitude, starting towards them. "Potter, Black!" she sighed with relief when she spotted them.

"Your Highness," James answered. "You've come to pick us, right? Afraid that we are going to forget the road to the Willow, Peters, huh?"

"No. Listen, Potter, I think we have a problem."

He smirked. "The only problem we have is figuring out how to press the knot without Peter's help, but I don't think it will be too difficult."

"Stop playing around, Potter!" she snapped angrily. "I'm telling you, we have a real problem!"

"Okay, let's hear this little problem that seems to be troubling your poor petite head."

She chose to ignore the comment and James' mocking tone. "It's Snape. Right now, he's in the Great Hall boasting about getting Remus expelled."

"So, what's new?" James asked, bored. "Of course he is boasting about that, Peters. He always does!"

Angela shook her head. "It's different this time."

"How is it different?"

"I don't know, but it is, Potter!"

"And you've come into our dormitory just to tell me _that_? Peters, we must go to the Shrieking Shack right now. In fact, we should have left – " He looked at her watch " – five minutes ago."

"Maybe we shouldn't go there tonight," she said hesitantly. "I'm telling you that Snape is up to something. His voice – I don't know, but I think that we're really in trouble, or at least Remus is."

Suddenly James did not look so calm anymore. Maybe he was starting to believe her. "Do you think he has found out about Moony?"

"I don't know, but something in my head keeps telling me that he's too confident. Potter, something bad is going to happen, and we have to find out what it is."

"Nothing bad," Sirius said cheerfully. "In fact, all our problems will be solved tonight."

Both James and Angela looked at him to find him examining the Marauder's Map. "What makes you say that, Padfoot?" James asked with a frown.

"He's going there, he's going to meet Moony," Sirius said excitedly. "I told him how to get past the Willow, and he's on his way right now. Look!"

"Snape?" Angela asked, aghast.

"Stop taking life so seriously, Peters!" James laughed. "Merlin, if only you could see your face! Nice one, Padfoot. Now, stop joking and tell us what's really going on."

"I've already told you, he'll get the scare of his life tonight. Look!" James went to him and Sirius showed him the dot labeled "S. Snape" that was approaching the Whomping Willow.

"What?" Angela asked, but James did not answer her. He was staring at the map with growing disbelief, and his face suddenly turned ashen. "Potter, what's going on?"

"It's true," was all he managed to articulate. It was a while before he regained his ability to speak. "You really did it?"

"Yes."

"You really told him?'

"Yes."

"You really sent him to where Remus is transforming _right now_?"

"Yes," Sirius repeated for the third time, sounding very surprised. "What's the matter?"

James and Angela looked at each other, horrified, and then he rushed past her, heading straight for the door.

"What are you doing?" Sirius shouted.

"Stopping him." James shouted. "Take care of that idiot in here!" he added in Angela's direction and bolted out of the room.

Angela felt her feet suddenly weaken, and she sat on the nearest bed – right now, she did not care to which boy it belonged. Had Black really done it? Or were he and Potter trying to play a joke on her and give her the scare of her life? If that was the case, they were doing a really good job. She listened carefully, trying to hear all the noises coming from outside. _Was that a howl?_ She caught her breath.

"I don't understand what the big deal is," Black said. "I didn't know that you and James cared for Snivellus that much. He will be a little shaken, I suppose, and he rightfully deserves it after all his sneaking about."

She could not quite believe her ears. "_Rightfully deserves it?"_ she screamed. "_A little shaken_? Are you mad, Black? Most probably, he will be _eaten alive_! Shred into tiny pieces!"

Sirius shrugged. "He won't go in there. He's too cowardly."

"You'd better be right, Black. Did you stop for a moment to think about what would happen if he _does_ go in there?"

"He'll get scared. Scared enough to leave us all alone and not stick his large nose into things that aren't his business."

"Scared?" Angela repeated. "He'll be killed, Black! And Remus will be the one who kills him. Did you think of that?"

Sirius had gone slightly pale. "Not Remus. The wolf. But that won't happen."

"I don't believe you! No, I really, truly can't believe you! What do you think Remus will do tomorrow if he wakes up to find that he has accidentally killed Snape or turned him into a werewolf? Or Potter, for that matter?"

Sirius was shaking now, but somehow he managed to say, "He'll never harm Prongs!"

"Right. True. _Remus_ will never harm Potter. But right now Remus isn't Remus anymore, or have you forgotten that little detail?"

For the first time, he found nothing to say, but for some reason, that only infuriated her more. An awful howl from the outside made them both jump. _Remus..._

"Tell me, Black, do you know what the Ministry does to werewolves that attack humans?" Sirius only shook his head. "Well, that might not be of any interest to us because it may not come to this. If Remus harms Snape or James, he's completely capable of committing suicide!"

"He wouldn't. He won't!" Sirius was trembling now, his dark eyes huge in his bloodless face.

"Then you'd better hope that we won't have to see that."

At once, Sirius jumped on his feet and made a gesture to hush her. "There is someone out there," he whispered so quietly that she could hardly hear him. "We aren't alone."

He went stealthily to the door and suddenly cracked it open to reveal a pale, shocked face, surrounded by red hair. "Just what we needed," he muttered angrily and dragged her in the room. "Another know-it-all. How much did you hear, Evans?"

"Enough," she said breathlessly. "Is it true? Is Remus – ?"

Sirius let her go and slumped onto his bed. "You won't repeat that to anyone," he told her sharply. "Anyone."

She sat on one of the two unoccupied beds. "When you came here so worried, Angela, and then Potter bolted out at the speed of lightening, I realized that something was wrong."

"Very wrong," Angela confirmed darkly.

"Do you think that Remus will – ?"

"I don't know," Angela answered dejectedly.

Another howl made all three of them shiver, and Angela realized she could not bear to sit here and listen. She thought that the howl had sounded more furious and helpless than anything she had ever heard coming out of Remus' mouth – or Moony's muzzle. She stood up.

"Where are you going?" Lily asked.

"Someone has to tell Dumbledore."

"I'll come with you."

"I don't think so, Black," she spat. "You did more than enough talking for one evening. But I'm not leaving you here because I don't know what you might do. So – " She pointed her wand at him. "_Petrificus Totalus!_" Then she quickly did the same to Lily; they both fell on the respective beds. "I'm sorry, Lily, but I'm not sure you won't tell anyone about Remus while I'm gone. I'll come back as soon as possible."

She hurriedly left the room and was surprised when she found herself walking towards the Whomping Willow, instead of Dumbledore's study. She could hear the howling more clearly now – furious and anguished. She began running forward, trying to penetrate the darkness with her gaze. _Oh Merlin, let them be fine. Let Potter arrive in time. Let them all be fine. But he left so long ago, he must be there already. Please, Merlin, anyone, please, help us. Make it that Potter has dragged Snape outside without any harm inflicted on them, or Remus. Please, I beg you. _Nothing. Everything was still. Deadly still. Even the howling had stopped like it had been cut by a knife. Had Potter been too late? Her heart was thudding in her chest like mad, and she almost fainted with relief when she saw two dark shadows emerging from under the now immobile Willow.

"Potter – Snape!" she gasped when she finally reached them. "Are you – are you fine?"

They were both very pale and for a moment, it seemed like none of them trusted his voice enough to try and actually talk. Finally, Snape spat, "For your deepest regret, yes, I am fine. Your little plan has failed, Potter!"

Potter looked at him, obviously confused. "What do you mean?"

"You and your friend Black were trying to kill me! You wanted to feed me to your friend the monster, am I right, Potter? Was he there?"

_So, Snape_ has _found out about Remus._ She felt like killing a certain dark-haired someone, and no, it was not Snape. "Remus isn't a monster!" she said sharply. "And no one was trying to kill you, Snape, so try to control yourself." Well, Remus and Potter certainly had not tried to kill him, but she was not so sure about Black. _That's not important right now._ The howling came again.

"Well, your little plan failed, Potter, but at least I'll rid this school of the werewolf. Everyone will learn what he is this morning, and then he'll be packing his trunk."

"You can't tell anyone!" Potter shouted. "No one was trying to kill you, understand that! Merlin, I risked my own life to get you out of there!"

"And whose fault is that I was there in the first place?" Snape roared back. "Dumbledore will hear about this."

He turned around and headed for the common room doors. James made a movement like he wanted to follow him, but stopped and looked helplessly at Angela who looked him back just as helplessly.

"Are you fine?" she finally asked. "What happened?"

"We are both fine," he answered quietly. "I arrived just in time. If I had come just a minute later – " He shuddered at the thought. "He saw Moony, though."

"I figured that much."

"Do you think he's going to tell everyone?"

"I'm sure that he will try. Dumbledore is the only one who can stop him."

The boy nodded, the moon shining in his face, and for the first time, Angela noticed the blood on his face. "You're wounded!" she exclaimed.

"Nothing serious. He just scratched me once or twice after I hit him with the spell. I've taken worse as Prongs."

"Let me see." Angela was no expert in Healing charms, but she knew enough to make the wounds stop bleeding. After that, they both fell silent, looking at each other for a few minutes. The howling from the Shack was the only sound they could hear.

"What are we going to do now?" Angela asked finally.

"I don't know."

Another silence. Another howl. "I'm going back inside," James said, and she looked at him as if he were mad.

"Why? He's going to rip you apart!"

"I have to. You can hear him. We were both in there, Snape and I. Moony got hold of our scents. He smelled human blood and then the two humans went away. What do you think he's going to do now?"

She gasped in horror, remembering that part of her textbook. "He will go mad," she said slowly. "Madder. He will turn on himself more viciously than ever. He's doing it already!" she realized, listening to the awful howling.

"Right. I have to go there and Stun him; otherwise he might not make it through the night."

She nodded. "Fine. But I'm coming with you."

"What? Are you mad? He's dangerous, for Merlin's sake!"

"Yes, to you, because you need your human hands and mouth to perform the spell. As I see it, he might shred you into pieces if you go there alone. I can keep him distracted while you Stun him. Think straight, dear Merlin!"

Again, James nodded. "You have a point there. Okay, let's go."

They entered the tunnel and headed for the Shack without talking. Angela began wondering how Potter could act so calmly – she herself felt nauseous. _He's a Gryffindor, remember?_

"Aren't you scared, Potter?"

"I'm scared to death," he replied, and she knew that he was telling the truth.

"Once we're out," she whispered, "I'm going to kill Black!"

"No, Peters. I hope you will give that pleasure to me."

They were almost in the Shack already.

"I'll do it now," Angela whispered. "Come on, get your wand ready."

She transformed, and James held his wand tightly, then suddenly knelt down and buried his face in the soft fur of the she-wolf. A little surprised, she responded in a certain canine way by licking his face. "Good luck, Empress," he whispered, standing up and going as far from her as he could without leaving the door out of his wand's reach. "Ready?" She nodded. "_Alohomora_!" he yelled, and the door opened to reveal a snarling werewolf coming towards them. The she-wolf stood in his way and buried her teeth in his flesh.

The next few minutes passed in a red blur of pain for Angela. All she knew was that she had to keep Moony away from James – a very hard task, because he was already infuriated by the two humans' escape. All he wanted now was the first _real_ meal in his life, and the she-wolf was trying to block his way, so he bit and scratch her with all his might. All she heard was James yelling, "_Stupefy_!" once, twice, thrice... Werewolves had a strong resistance to spells in their wolf form, so it took forever to feel unlimited in her movements and hear James' voice, "It's okay. It's over. I finally did it."

When she was able to see things clearly again, she found James kneeling in front of the fallen form of their friend, tending to his wounds as best as he could. "Do you know any Healing spells?" he asked, and she shook her furry head. "Let's get out of here, then. He might wake up any minute, but the spell should last at least five hours. Merlin, you look almost as bad as him."

She stood up on her four legs and he helped her leave the Shack. Once they were in the tunnel again, she transformed from a white she-wolf to a dark-haired girl, and let James treat her injuries.

"I can't do anything more," he finally said. "Let's get out of here." She gave a weak nod and they started walking. Near the end of the tunnel, James' legs failed him, and he slumped against the wall. Angela sat next to him on the floor and took his hands in her own.

"This is the worst night in my life," he finally said, his voice trembling. "I've never been so afraid. Twice, I thought that he would get past you and reach me, and I – Oh, Merlin!"

"But you still came," she whispered, turning his face toward hers. "Even after you saw what happened earlier, you still came and helped him. You shouldn't have, do you know that? Nobody would have blamed you if you hadn't returned, James. You had already done more than enough."

"I couldn't just leave him like that," James shrugged. _Wait, just when did I become James?_

"Of course you couldn't," she smiled faintly. "You are insufferable, do you know that? Insufferable, and annoying, and a show-off."

He smiled back at her just as faintly. "I've heard that before."

"That's because it's true. And you are also brave, and loyal, and I'm so, so sorry for every time I told you otherwise."

He did not say anything, and they held each other tightly for a few minutes, almost dumb with relief that everything was fine and they had all made it out relatively unharmed.

"We have to talk to Dumbledore," James said at last.

"Yes, I suppose you're right. Let's get out of here; I don't feel like staying a minute more."

He got to his feet and helped her stand up, then offered his hand. "Hello, I'm James Potter, and I'm the Gryffindor show-off."

She smiled and shook his hand. "I'm Angela Peters, the Ravenclaw know-it-all."

For a long moment they listened to the silence around them. "Do you think he'll be fine?" Angela finally asked.

"I don't know. We did all that we were able to do."

"Yes."

"Let's get out of here. We have a hard day ahead. We'll have to deal with Dumbledore, and Snape, and Remus, and we have a Black to kill."

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**A.N. As you should know, that is the infamous Prank. I'm planning to write two more chapters. Please tell me what you think. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: If I owned something, I would not have wasted my time to write a Disclaimer, would I?**

_This chapter is not a new one – it's the same Chapter 2, only betaed by my new-old beta saiyanwizardgurl. I hope that soon I'll be able to post other old stories betaed, thanks to her. _

Chapter 2

"We have to talk to Dumbledore," James said while they were walking toward the castle. "Merlin knows what Snape is going to tell him. We have to give him our version of the events, too."

"I'd say that what Snape is telling Dumbledore right now is our problem, not what he is going to tell him at some point later," Angela muttered.

"I suppose you're right," James sighed. "Snivellus certainly didn't waste any time before finding Dumbledore and telling him his tale."

"I can almost see it," she nearly spat. Now, when the immediate danger was behind them, all her fear had turned into anger, directed toward Black and Snape – Black for being the bastard that he was, and Snape for doing just what his sworn enemy had told him to. "Spluttering and shaking with outrage while telling Dumbledore how we – all of us – had made a plot for his murder. You heard him – Black, you and I, we've all been in on the great prank. The greasy-haired git is going to tell him just that, mark my words."

James looked at her with surprise. Although she did not like Snape, he had never heard her talk about him in that way. She got quite scared, too. "We'd better go to Dumbledore's study and tell him our version."

The girl shook her head. "We have to go and make ourselves more presentable," she said.

James gaped at her. "I never thought you were _that_ vain. Don't you think that talking to Dumbledore is a bit more important than combing your hair right now?"

She dismissed his disapproval with a wave of her hand. "It's not about vanity, James. It's about being cautious. Look at us – all covered in blood. We can't go to Dumbledore like this. The wound on your cheek isn't bleeding anymore, but it's still visible, and just look at my arm."

He looked at her closely in the moonlight and saw the deep wound on her left palm. His talent in Healing Charms was even less than hers, so all he had been able to do was reduce the bleeding. Her green blouse was ripped at the shoulder and blood was dripping from that area, too. The wounds looked just like what they were – bites. Werewolf bites, to be precise. James swore under his breath.

"I see you understand," Angela told him. "We can't go to Dumbledore before we've at least masked those; otherwise he'll think that I was bitten as a human and that I am a werewolf now, and when the next full moon comes around and I don't transform, we'll have a lot of explaining to do. Becoming a secret Animagus is illegal, remember? Expulsion from Hogwarts is the least we can expect."

The boy nodded. "Thank Merlin that you are an insufferable know-it-all who always thinks of everything," he whispered. "Come on, let's go to my dorm, there's no one there to see us."

Suddenly, she remembered that there were two people who would see them. She had completely forgotten that Black and Lily were still in the dorm, Petrified. _Well, it serves the bastard right._ She hurried after James. They did not have much time because she was sure that Dumbledore would summon them soon.

"It's so strange," James whispered, taking her hand and helping her walk faster – Moony had inflicted a few very serious wounds on her. "The silence. It's never this quiet during a full moon night. I'll kill Black!" he added, as if it were a logical end of the phrase.

"Come on, the faster we move, the faster this whole mess will be sorted, and the faster they'll take him into the infirmary and treat his injuries."

"Sweet Merlin, where have you been?" the Fat Lady gasped when she caught a glimpse at their bloodied faces and clothes.

"Never mind – Sugar quill, sugar quill," James groaned and helped Angela pass though the hole. It was her turn to groan when she saw the stairs she had to climb in order to get to the boys' dormitories.

"Come on, I'll help you," James said, and he picked her up as if she were a child. He suddenly remembered that Moony had dug one of his front paws into Empress' hind leg quite severely; that meant that Angela's leg must hurt like hell right now. "Come on, we're almost there. Ah, here we are," he added, finally opening the door of his dormitory.

"Thank you," Angela muttered when he placed her on the nearest bed next to...

"Hey, what's going on? What are you doing here?"

"She was eavesdropping," Angela explained. "After you left, she decided to be clever and came here to overhear the conversation I was having with Black."

Judging by the furious glance that Lily threw in Angela's direction, she obviously disagreed with this version of the event, but being Petrified, she could not even shake her head, let alone make an objection.

"What's wrong with her?" James asked.

"I Petrified them before leaving. I didn't know what they would do if they were alone."

"Them," James repeated calmly. "You mean that if I have a closer look at Black's bed, I'll find him there in the same position as Evans?" Without waiting for an answer, he removed the curtains of Sirius' bed and looked at him for a moment before saying, "Remove the spell."

Angela nodded. A quick flick of her wand, and Lily sat upright and stretched her body. Another flick, and after a second, Sirius was doing the same thing. Then something rushed past Angela, or rather, someone rushed past her. There was a cracking sound when James' fist collided with Sirius' jaw.

"You bastard!" James shouted. "You despicable, cowardly bastard! Just who do you think you are?" He emphasized each of his words by punching Sirius hard on the face but then obviously decided that talking was just a waste of breath, so he fell silent and only landed his fists on Sirius' jaw, temples, stomach, and hands – any part of him that he could reach.

"James! James! Stop it – you're going to really hurt him!" Angela screamed.

"What do you think I'm trying to do here?" James bellowed in response. "In case you – haven't – noticed I – am trying – to really hurt – him." He emphasized his words with new punches until Angela ran to him and pulled him a few steps aside. James drove her away and started toward Sirius again.

"James, stop it!" Angela shouted. "Don't make me hex you!"

"Go on, hex me!" he shouted back. "I didn't know that this thing here meant so much to you."

"He doesn't," Angela assured him. "Believe me, I want to let you cut him into tiny pieces, I do. But I can't. C'mon, we were lucky to make it without a murder until now. If you kill Black now, things will become worse instead of better."

"But the world will become a better place without him!"

Lily threw herself at James, trying to pull him aside from Sirius. James pushed her on the floor and then pushed Angela on top of her, just to get them out of his way, and punched Sirius again, this time in his stomach, before grabbing his wrist and twisting it hard.

Why wasn't Sirius fighting back? Didn't he understand that James would cause him serious damage? Angela and Lily managed to stand up and simultaneously pointed their wands at James, sending him across the room. Lily went to check on Sirius, while Angela was keeping James immobile.

"James, stop it!" she said. "You aren't helping us this way, and you certainly aren't helping Remus. Do not make me Petrify you."

James' face contorted with fury, but then he nodded. "I won't touch him," he promised. "Release me."

She hesitated, but then lowered her wand and James began rubbing his right palm – it seemed that his blows towards Sirius had caused him pain as well.

"What happened?" Lily asked fearfully. "Is Remus okay? What about Snape?"

Sirius' face tensed; there was a fear in his eyes while he was waiting for them to answer.

"They are both fine," Angela said. "No one was bitten."

"Thank Merlin!" Lily whispered.

James collapsed on his bed and started throwing furious glances at Sirius, but made no move to attack him.

"It was a close call, though," he said so softly that the other three barely heard him. "If we had been a minute later, someone would be dead. And that's not all."

"What happened?" Sirius finally spoke for the first time.

James threw him a dirty look, and the girls both raised their wands in case they needed to bodily restrain him from attacking Sirius again. "Oh, now you're _very_ concerned, aren't you?" he snapped. "Well, I'll tell you. Snape saw Moony. He saw him!" he bellowed. "Tomorrow morning, everyone in this bloody school will know that Remus Lupin is a werewolf. Are you happy now, Sirius? Why did you have to do it this way? For Merlin's sake, you could just put an announcement into the Great Hall; it would be more merciful. At least you would have saved him his dignity instead of exposing him to Snape. Snape, of all people! You would have made Moony a murderer over _Severus bloody Snape_?" Suddenly, all his anger seemed to have disappeared. He only shook his head and absent-mindedly ruffled his hair. "How you could have done such a thing is beyond me," he said tiredly.

"Snape saw Remus?" Lily whispered and angrily wiped her tears. "But he's going to tell _everyone_!"

"I know," Angela said. "That's why James is so angry with Black. Now, all of you listen. We don't have much time, so we'd better hurry up to synchronize our versions. Remember, no lies. We have to tell Dumbledore the truth; he's a Legilimens and he will know if we try to lie to him. We'll be called to his study any minute now..."

"The first thing that needs to be taken care of is your wounds," James interrupted. "We're lucky that Evans is here; she's good with Healing Charms. Evans, heal her as best as you can."

"Okay," Lily said.

Without the slightest hesitation, Angela took her blouse off – it was not the time to feel uncomfortable at being undressed in front on two guys. Lily gasped at the sight of the ugly wounds and scratches covering the other girl's olive skin. "For Merlin's sake, what happened? What did you do – fight with the wolf?"

"Yes," Angela muttered angrily. She hissed in pain when Lily's fingers touched a particularly nasty gash under her left breast.

"What?" Lily asked, and then gasped, looking at the ugly bite on Angela's shoulder. "He bit you!"

"Yes, but it's fine," the Ravenclaw girl said hurriedly. "I'm an Animagus, and I was in my wolf form when he bit me, so he wasn't contagious."

"An Animagus?" Lily breathed.

"Yes, we're all Animagi – James, Pettigrew, Black, and me. We did it for Remus, to be able to stay with him during the full moons because werewolves cannot infect animals." Lily was staring at her with wide eyes. "We – James, show her."

James stood up, went to the center of the room to make sure he had enough space, and transformed. Lily gasped. The stag changed back. "So that's it," James said. "Please heal her wounds. We can't let Dumbledore see the bites, or we'll have to tell him everything. We can't tell him that we're Animagi, Evans, we can't."

Lily nodded, pointing her wand at Angela. In less than a minute, the dark-haired girl's wounds had healed themselves. "That's better," Angela muttered, cleaning her clothes and putting the blouse on. "Thank you."

"But of course," Lily answered, and for the first time, they smiled at each other. Then Lily turned to James to tend to his wounds and clean his outfit.

After a second, James looked at himself, looked at Angela, and proclaimed, "Now we don't look like we've fought a werewolf."

Under other circumstances, that would have sounded funny. Now, no one laughed. "Why is it so quiet?" Sirius asked, but neither James nor Angela answered him – they looked like they had decided to pretend that he was invisible.

"Moony hurt himself," James said. "When I found Snape, he caught our scents and went mad. He hurt himself badly."

"Why is it so quiet?" Lily asked, and she was dignified with the answer that Sirius had been refused.

"We had to go inside, Empress and I, she as a wolf, I as a human, and Stupefy him."

"You went there as a human?" Lily said, horrified. "Are you mad, Potter? Didn't you know what might have happened to you?'

"I knew!" James snapped angrily. "We had to; otherwise he would have killed himself. Besides, Empress was with me, and she didn't let him come near me."

Lily understood. "So, that's why you are in worse condition than Potter – you really fought the wolf?"

"We had no choice," Angela said darkly. "James is right; by now Remus would have been dead if he hadn't Stupefied him."

"Enough of that," James interrupted, "we have to think about what to tell Dumbledore. Snape undoubtedly had told him that the four of us had been plotting to kill him – even poor Remus! We have to tell him the truth – and nothing but the truth."

"Only without the Animagi part," Angela clarified. "Hear that, Black?"

Sirius did not answer.

"Black, are you deaf?" James asked in a harsh tone, and Sirius felt like his friend had just slapped him. James had never addressed him by his last name – he knew how much Sirius despised it. _He knows; that's why he is doing it now – to hurt me. He wants to tell me that, to him, I'm no different than my family._

"Leave him alone," Angela said impatiently. "This isn't the time. When we have to describe what happened tonight, we're going to tell it like it is."

"Even the part when we both entered the Shack?" James asked skeptically.

"Yes, we'll tell him that we've been there – only we won't tell him that I was in my wolf form."

"But we won't tell him that you were in human form, either," James understood, "and so, technically, we won't be lying. Even the Veritaserum won't reveal a lie because there will be none."

"Unless they know what to ask us about – whether we are Animagi or not."

"Well, maybe Black here will help them know what questions to ask," James said, loudly enough for Sirius to hear him.

The next moment, the door opened and Professor McGonagall entered the dormitory. "What are you doing in the boys' dormitory at this hour, Miss Evans?" she snapped, and the four teenagers exchanged horrified glances. How long has she been standing outside? How much has she heard?

"I... I..." Lily began, and her voice faded.

McGonagall, however, was not interested in her anymore. "Potter, Black, Peters," she said in a harsh tone, "come with me."

They followed her into the corridor and into the silence. There was no sign from Filch, no hissing from Mrs. Norris, no sound at all. _Hogwarts shouldn't be this quiet_, Sirius thought, before realizing the reason why the silence made him nauseous – because there was no sound coming from the Shack. On the nights of the full moon, there should have been howling and barking, galloping sounds from Prong's hooves, and animalistic sounds of mock-fighting, not this heavy silence. _Even before we had become Animagi, there were always noises coming from the Shrieking Shack_...At the very beginning, the howls of their friend who was no longer himself had made Sirius, James, and Peter sick, but later, they had learned to welcome them, no matter what. While there were howls and snarls coming from the Shack, Remus was still fighting. He was alive. What's happening now, in that silence? Sirius flinched and saw James' hand holding Peters'. They are also afraid, he realized, and suddenly felt even more miserable. Prongs and Empress had suddenly formed a unity and he was not part of it. He was alone. _Well, I suppose I did this to myself. But the git wasn't supposed to listen to me. Why did he? And why, oh why, did James follow him? It was only Snape; it wasn't as if he would be missed..._

He did not realize that they had almost reached Dumbledore's study until they began climbing up the moving staircase. The door opened instantly.

"Please, be seated."

Without saying anything, the three students took seats and Sirius noticed the way Angela tugged her sleeve when she went past him, as if she was afraid that touching him would make her outfit dirty. He also noticed that both she and James sat as far from him as possible.

McGonagall sat on a chair near Dumbledore's desk. Her face was frozen in a mask of anger and disbelief and Dumbledore's showed only sadness; the twinkle of his eyes had disappeared. "I am sure that all of you know why you are here," he finally said.

Nobody answered.

"Mr. Snape has told me a very interesting story. He seems to think that the four of you – Mr. Lupin included – were trying to kill him."

_I bet he would._ Sirius did not say it, though. No one said anything. James was looking right in front of him; Angela was staring at the carpet. Both of them were pale and looked like they were afraid that they were going to throw up if they open their mouths. _I probably look the same way._

"Let's start from the beginning," Dumbledore said. "Mr. Black, why did you do this?"

Sirius flinched again; the Headmaster's calm voice was like a knife rolling in his insides. He suddenly wished for Dumbledore to get angry, outrageously even – anything but this deep disappointment engraved in his face. Anger, he could take. Fury, he could deal with, but not this. And the worst part was that he had no ready answer to give. How could he explain that in a burst of adolescent anger he had sent another student to his death? That he had risked Remus' staying at Hogwarts? That he had not expected Snape to take his words seriously? Even Prongs had trouble understanding that, so how could Dumbledore believe his explanation?

The Headmaster's eyes never left Sirius'. He knew that he had to talk. "It was Snape. He... we argued and he started saying things to me and I...I never expected of him to believe me," he faltered. "I don't know why I did it. I...I just got angry and it slipped before I could think about what I was saying. I don't know how it happened."

"I see."

"You see?" McGonagall said sharply, her face flushing in anger. "Well, Albus, I _don't_ see! I don't see how anyone, let alone a Gryffindor, could do this to another human being – to two people, one of who was his friend – and not know how it happened!"

Apparently, neither did James and Peters. They both shot him unbelieving looks before returning to their previous decision to ignore him, and that made him angry with them. He could hear how stupid his reasoning had sounded without their not-so-subtle hints, thank you very much!

Finally, Dumbledore interrupted the painful silence. "What happened next, Mr. Black?"

"James and I were in the dormitory when Peters came in. She was very frightened and told us that Snape was planning something against Remus."

"Was Miss Peters aware of your little prank?" Dumbledore asked calmly.

"What? No! In fact, she was terrified when she heard what I did. She and James, they both were."

Dumbledore turned his cold eyes towards the girl. "How did you know about the danger that Mr. Lupin was in, Miss Peters?"

"I heard Snape," she answered in a slightly trembling but controlled voice. "I saw him boasting in the Great Hall about how he would get Remus expelled. I've heard that from him hundreds of times, but this time I felt it was different."

"What do you mean, Miss Peters?"

"I don't know," she hesitated. "He sounded different; more confident, not as usual, when he was angry with Remus and the others. In fact, he looked like he knew something that would let him fulfill his threats. I got scared. I don't know why, but I did, and I knew that Remus must have been in the Shack already..."

"How long have you known about Mr. Lupin's condition, Miss Peters?"

"We've been friends for years, even before Hogwarts," she explained. "I found out by accident, when we were both nine. When we came here, he told me about the Shrieking Shack, of course, because he knew I would never betray his secret, knowing how it happened or not," she finished, throwing an angry glance at Sirius.

Dumbledore sighed. "I should have known, given how close the two of you were. Go on, Miss Peters."

"I tried to enter the Gryffindor Tower to talk to Remus' friends, but the portrait refused to let me in. Then Lily Evans passed by, and I entered with her. I told Potter and Black about Snape, and Potter didn't take it seriously but then Black told us what he had done, and Potter bolted out to stop Snape if he could. Black and I remained in the dormitory and then he heard Evans outside – she had obviously suspected something when James had left the tower in such a hurry, and she heard a part of the conversation I was having with Black. Then, I Petrified both of them and went to the Whomping Willow to see what had happened to James and Snape."

Dumbledore nodded. "Mr. Potter, now I'd like to hear your version of the events."

"Well, I rushed to the Willow, hoping to make it there in time to stop Snape from entering, but I was too late; he was already in the tunnel. I aimed a Confounding Curse at Remus and thus succeeded in dragging Snape out, but he had already saw Moo – Remus."

"I see," Dumbledore repeated. "And did you have any troubles with Mr. Lupin while dragging Mr. Snape out?"

James thought quickly over that. He felt no desire to tell the Headmaster that he had been healed, because that might lead Dumbledore into thinking about James having other wounds than those Snape had seen and that had been healed. On the other hand, Snape had seen Moony attacking James. He might have told Dumbledore that. _Who am I kidding, of course he's told him – the monster that attacked his own friend surely was too nice a line for Snivellus to miss!_ For a brief moment, James thought of not answering, but he knew that he had to – and that he could not afford to be caught in a lie, not now, when any lie may cause Dumbledore to use Legilimency on him and find out about some other things, like one stag Animagus...

"He scratched me once or twice, until the spell took effect," he answered, "but it was nothing serious."

"What happened later?"

"When we got out, we saw Angela Peters coming towards us, then Snape began screaming about us plotting to kill him, and that was not true. Peters and I had no idea, Remus certainly had no idea; in fact, I think he'll be terrified when he hears about this in the morning, and I honestly think that even Black here wasn't planning to kill Snape – he's just unable to control either his damned temper or his big fat mouth." He turned to shot another disdainful look at his friend – or maybe his former friend, Sirius thought miserably – before continuing in calmer voice. "Snape declared that he was going to tell everyone about Remus, and ran from us, and Peters and I remained alone." He swallowed with difficulty. Now, the most difficult part came. He spoke more slowly, thinking of each word before saying it. "By that time, Remus had overcome the effect of the curse, and by the sound of his howling, we could say that he was turning against himself more viciously than ever. We were both afraid that he could...that he could..." He found that he could not force himself to actually say the word. "We had to go there and stop him, so we did."

"You did what?!" McGonagall all but shouted, her face paling in horror. "How could you be that stupid?"

It was the first time that any of the three students had seen her lose her temper like that. She was practically shaking with rage.

"Calm down, Minerva," Dumbledore said firmly. "Go on, Mr. Potter."

"Remus had begun turning on himself when we got there. I tried to Stupefy him, but werewolves are very resistant to charms and curses, so I had to repeat it three times before it actually took effect."

"What was Miss Peters doing during that time?"

That was the question James had hoped would not be asked. "She was distracting his attention from me."

"What?" McGonagall asked again, but this time she got a grip of her fury. "Foolish girl, how could you – ?"

"I'm fine, Professor," Angela said. "He did not even touch my skin. Then, the incantation had its effect and when he fell on the floor, James tended to his wounds and we left the Shack. That's it."

McGonagall was looking at James and Angela as if she wanted to hug and spank them at the same time. Dumbledore slowly nodded. "I understand."

"So that's why Mr. Lupin is so quiet?" the Head of Gryffindor asked. "Because he was Stupefied?"

"Yes," Angela said, "and he must be taken to the infirmary immediately. He inflicted some very deep wounds on himself, and since neither James nor I are good at Healing spells, we couldn't do much for him. He must be treated in the infirmary."

"In his wolf form?" McGonagall asked unbelievingly.

"That cannot happen, Miss Peters," Dumbledore said.

"Why not, Professor?" James asked. "He needs to be treated!"

Dumbledore sighed. "As you said, werewolves have strong resistance to spells. I expect that Mr. Lupin will overcome the effect of Confoundio very soon, and I cannot let that happen in the infirmary."

_A berserk in the infirmary._ James shuddered at that image but insisted nevertheless, "But you can keep him immobile! You don't understand; if he wakes now, he can seriously hurt himself!"

"I know," Dumbledore sighed, "and I hope that your spell was really strong so that the overcoming will arrive as late as possible. But I can't and won't risk the safety of my students by taking him out in his current state."

His voice indicated that the matter was finished. James lowered his head in resignation, and Angela asked, "But you aren't going to expel Remus, right? It wasn't his fault, it won't be fair!"

"Mr. Lupin will stay at Hogwarts," Dumbledore assured her.

"But Snape will tell everyone about him!"

"No, Miss Peters, I took care of that. Mr. Lupin's secret is still safe."

She nodded, and, beside her, James sighed with relief.

"Now take your leave, Miss Peters, Mr. Potter. Professor McGonagall and I will deal with Mr. Black's punishment."

James and Angela stood up and silently left the study. "My dormitory?" he asked when they were in the corridor, and the girl nodded. No need to say it, they would become together until it all ended – until Remus changed back and was proven to be okay.

They were almost at the entrance to Gryffindor Tower when they heard the first howl. James, who did not wear a watch, looked at Angela's. "Five hours," he said in subdued voice. "We have to wait for five hours."

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